The Lion King: Early Reunion
by WTF123
Summary: We know of how Simba and Nala found each other in the jungle as adults. But what would have happened if Nala left the Pride Lands to find help while she was an adolescent? What if she and Simba met up in the jungle while they were just teens? How would things be different, and would they be for the better? Original story belongs to wolfartist117.
1. Chapter I

**Chapter I**

_"Look at the stars. The great kings of the past look down on us from those stars."_

_"Really?"_

_"Yes. So whenever you feel alone, just remember that those kings will always be there to guide you... and so will I."_

* * *

These words from the very last time he ever spoke with his father were the only thought that echoed through Simba's mind as he just sat there in silence, looking out to the sunset at the heart of the magenta colored horizon. In his time since being rescued from the desolation of the hot African wilderness by Timon and Pumbaa, the lion had grown significantly from the young cub he once was. He was well into his teenaged years now, his claws were developing, he was getting bigger, and his vibrant red mane was beginning to grow in around his head and neck too.

But in spite of this, Simba could feel no pride or satisfaction from the sensation of nearing his young adult years if no one from his blood-family could be there to see it. Even though Timon and Pumbaa had been like brothers to him, he had never forgotten the memory of his father; the very one who had died so he could live. The guilt of such a thing had stayed with him all his life, constantly wearing him emotionally down as he thought of every word Mufasa had ever said to him. And although Simba had never said a thing about his father or what happened to him to Timon and Pumbaa, his personal anguish was not escaping their attention right then.

As he sat there in the grass expressionless, watching the sun set behind the mountaintops in absolute silence to the point where even his breathing was almost inaudible, Timon and Pumbaa both emerged from the thick bushes and trees that surrounded Simba on all sides except where he stared. Pumbaa still had a mouth filled with slimy insects while Timon had just finished up on some crunchy ones. He took a loud gulp of them before he looked at Simba for a moment, watching his shadow grow upon the ground from the setting sun. Eventually he spoke, breaking the delicate silence Simba was amongst.

"Uh... Simba? Aren't you gonna eat with us?" He asked. "We're having love grubs, I thought you couldn't resist those."

Simba was motionless for a moment before he turned around to face his friend, and the expression on his face said it all. The lion looked absolutely depressed right to the heart of his soul, and while Timon and Pumbaa had both seen him upset before, never had they seen him look as bad as he was right then.

"Just not hungry right now." Simba softly replied with an unsure tone clear in his voice.

Pumbaa finished gulping down his slimy insects before he too broke the silence of dusk, seeing how bad Simba looked.

"Is there something you want to talk about, buddy?" He asked with a clear tone of concern within his voice. "You don't look so good."

"Yeah, you look like someone just died around here." Timon added. As soon as he did, though, Simba's eyes widened for a moment before he turned back around to face the sunset again. He sighed heavily, which made Timon give Pumbaa an odd look and a raised eyebrow.

"Did we do something wrong, Simba?" Timon asked him now. "Was it something we did? Something we said, maybe?"

"No." Simba abruptly answered, which caught them off guard. "It wasn't anything you guys did. I just wish I could say the same for myself."

That last part he mumbled to himself just low enough so that neither the warthog nor the meerkat could hear. With concern clear in their looks, Timon and Pumbaa both walked over to Simba and sat down on either side of him.

"Simba, what's been going on? You've never been like this before." Timon asked.

"You've been pretty upset like this for the last few days, actually." Pumbaa added. "You've barely been eating, you've been sleeping in later than we do-"

"Which is one heck of an accomplishment if I do say so myself." Timon unwisely interrupted. "Come on Simba, don't you remember Hakuna Matata? Whatever's gettin' at you, just don't worry about it."

The lion softly mumbled to him, "I don't think Hakuna Matata's going to work this time, guys. I'd probably tell you why, but you'd never want to listen anyway... _Timon_."

He put a bit of an emphasis on Timon's name. Pumbaa gave the meerkat a glare, which prompted him to rub the back of his head with his hand as he cleared his throat.

"All right then... if there's... anything you want to talk about, I guess we'll at least listen to you then, buddy."

Simba glanced down to the meerkat before he muttered in a depressed tone, "Yeah? Whatever happened to 'good, we don't want to hear about it', Timon?"

The meerkat opened his mouth to say something in some sort of defense, but ultimately came up with nothing to answer. Instantly, regret began to overcome him from ever having said that to Simba.

With another hefty sigh, Simba stood up and began to walk forth away from that spot in the jungle, pain filling his heart.

"Hey, where are you going?" Pumbaa asked him. Simba simply stopped walking for a moment and looked back to him, replying, "I'll talk to you later. I've just got a lot on my mind right now."

And with that, he unexpectedly sprang forth through the lush jungle ahead of him in the direction of the sunset. It was now almost fully behind the rim of the mountain range in the distance. Timon and Pumbaa just watched in despair and concern, seeing as though Simba had a lot on his mind, most likely having to do with something personal. They figured it best not to ask again. The meerkat turned to Pumbaa.

"Do ya think this is about that time we first tried to swing on those tree vines?"

Pumbaa replied, "I don't know, Timon. I think he would be more mad about that than sad. I mean you _did_ force him into it."

Timon raised an eyebrow. Defensively he said, "Hey, it wasn't my fault! I didn't know those vines would break, and I sure didn't know that was poison ivy he would fall in to!"

Pumbaa just sighed and returned his attention to Simba off in the distance as he ran ever deeper into the jungle with his form being silhouetted against the horizon. He had never feared for his friend more than he did right then.

Running through the lush plant life and over the low lying jungle shrubs, Simba could feel hot tears beginning to break through his eyes and stream down his face. He forcefully shut his eyes and continued to run, not caring where he ended up since he had the place memorized anyway. With every step his paws took against the ground, memories of Mufasa's sincere kindness and wise guidance flooded into his mind in the same way tears flooded his eyes. His heart was filled with absolute sadness, his muscles felt weak, and his mind was in a state of total anguish. For although he didn't tell his friends, that particular day was the one year anniversary of his father's death, and he was chased away from his beloved home and forced to run towards the sunset, exactly as he was doing right then. Whether he was doing it out of commemoration or not, he himself would never know.

Soon, Simba approached a small cliffside that abruptly cut into the ground and dropped by about three feet. Here he finally stopped running as his paws now stood at the very edge of it. Beyond that spot, the mountains almost appeared to be slightly larger than he was used to seeing them, and by then the sunset was little more than a dim red glow that bordered the rims of the distant mountain ridge. Now breaking down in depressed sobs to himself, Simba laid down on his stomach letting his front paws dangle over the edge of the small cliffside, and he stared unblinkingly at the clearing where he could clearly see what was left of the sunrise. And he stayed like that for what felt like hours; days, even. He made absolutely no attempt to hold back his cries of sadness and simply let all of his emotions loose like he hadn't done since the very day of his father's death one year before. The teenaged lion buried his head in his arms so his face couldn't be seen.

"Father..." He started to himself. "It's my fault. I'm the reason the sun had to set on your time so early. I... it should've been me."

He shut his eyes as tight as he could while he repeated this several times to himself. "It should've been me! I'm the one who should be dead right now, not you! Why? Why wasn't it me?!"

* * *

Unbeknownst to Simba at that time, he was most certainly not the only lion in all of Africa to be feeling such anguish. At his original home of the Pride Lands, the inhabitants there too remembered the one year anniversary of Mufasa's death. Only with them, they believed it to be the anniversary of Simba's as well. At sunset, a very sad ceremony of mourning had been held by all of the lionesses of Mufasa's pride at the gorge where it happened, and none of them were so deeply scarred or miserable as Sarabi was. She had cried the hardest of them all since Mufasa had shown her nothing but kindness and warmth all her life while he was alive, and to lose such a king and mate as him was enough to plunge her into the deepest despair she'd ever experienced.

After the sun had set completely, the lionesses of the pride had returned to Pride Rock for another night of fearful and anxious sleep thanks to their tyrannical king, Scar, the very one who had secretly caused Mufasa's death in the first place. For the others, it was a loss. For him, it was a celebration.

The lionesses all treaded up the slope leading to the den, each of them tired and woeful. Several of them had crowded around Sarabi since she needed the most comfort, having lost both her mate and her son on the same day a year before. Bust as Sarabi staggered up to the den with tears still streaming down her face, Nala stayed especially close to her as she walked to her left. Like with Simba, Nala too had grown into her teenaged years and was more than half the size of the other lionesses now, and in addition her teeth and claws were strengthening too. But still, Nala was not quite yet an adult lioness, not even old enough to partake in her first hunt just yet. She sighed sadly.

As much as Nala mourned the death of Mufasa for the good king he was, there was someone else whom she missed even more- Simba. Almost every day she thought of him and how many memories she had with him before the stampede happened. Even though she never got to tell him this, Nala had recently faced the fact that she was in love with Simba while he was alive, and now it seemed as though she would never have the chance to ever tell him how she felt.

When the other lionesses reached the top of the slope and tiredly walked into the den for another night, Nala just stared at her pride for a moment before she sighed, turned around, and walked the other way up to the ledge of Pride Rock, the very same spot where Simba was presented on the day of his birth. Walking up to the edge, she stood there for a moment and looked intently up to the stars like she had done almost every night since the stampede. Nala's mother, Sarafina, soon noticed that her daughter had not yet come into the den while she was inside after a while. Raising an eyebrow, she immediately looked outside and saw Nala sitting down on the edge of Pride Rock with the end of her tail dangling over the stony rim. She saw her head bow in sadness. With a clearly concerned look on her face, Sarafina walked back out of the den and too a few steps forth outside.

"Nala?" She called out to her. The teenaged lioness was silent and motionless as she sat there, clearly upset over something. Sarafina then sighed as she walked up to her across Pride Rock's ledge, where she stopped right behind where her daughter sat. She stood there for a moment before Nala took a deep breath.

"I know you're there, mom." Nala said in an evidently depressed way.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" She asked her. "Is something the matter?"

"Why mom... why did they both have to die? Why did Simba have to die?" Was the only thing she managed to come up with upon hearing her mother's concerned words. Sarafina then asked,

"You still miss Simba... you're still in love with him, aren't you?"

Nala replied, "I never even got to let him know that. It's... it's just not fair."

"I know. I miss him too, Nala." Sarafina said as she walked up next to her daughter and sat down to her left, where they both silently looked out to what remained of their vast kingdom. Since Scar took over, it had been just as desolate as the desert of the Outlands, if not even worse. Hyenas scattered the place as they slept all around the dry plains, arid riverbeds and next to dead savannah trees. It was a truly miserable sight to see.

"So then... Mheetu's already asleep." Sarafina started in an attempt to change the subject so Nala wouldn't have to think about Simba right then. Nala perked up at the mention of her younger stepbrother.

"He is?" She asked, giving her mother a confused look. "That's weird. Doesn't he usually stay awake later than this?"

"I think it's because he hasn't been getting enough to eat lately." Sarafina answered worriedly. "He's been so tired over the last few days, he has trouble even walking because of how little he's eaten."

"No one's been getting enough to eat lately." Nala replied. "The hyenas just take everything you and the others catch for themselves, and now the herds are even starting to move on."

"I know." Sarafina said reluctantly. "I'm getting worried for Mheetu as well as everyone else here, Nala. He's only a cub, he needs to eat more than we do. I'm afraid of what'll happen if he doesn't get what he needs soon. Nala... he could starve."

Nala nodded sadly. "Mom... I already lost my best friend, I don't want to lose my brother too."

"Neither do I, Nala." Sarafina replied, placing a paw on her teenage daughter's back for comfort. "It's a miracle that Scar even let him live."

Following this, a moment of silence came to pass between the two lionesses as they sat there, looking out to the Pride Lands as night cast its darkness upon them for another night. Unlike how it once was one year before, no insects were there to make the gentle chirping sounds they were so used to falling asleep to, and any rivers that remained were too small to make the sound of flowing river that had always soothed them at night. It was just absolutely miserable silence now.

Nala looked up to the sky. "Hey mom, you want to know something Simba once told me?"

Sarafina looked down to her daughter. "What?"

"Right before he died, he told me that the great kings of the past look down on us from the stars."

"Really?" Her mother asked with a bit of an astonished tone in her voice. Nala nodded. "He said that if I ever feel alone, to just look up to the stars for guidance."

Sarafina then asked Nala, "Are you thinking Simba might be up there?"

Nala bowed her head in sadness. "He was never king, but... he deserves to be up there with Mufasa. Simba would've ruled this place a hundred times better than Scar. Mheetu wouldn't be starving, hyenas wouldn't be all over the place, the Pride Lands wouldn't be in ruins, and..."

She hesitated before she finally managed to finish. "And I'd have a king who could call me his queen."

Her voice nearly broke down when she said this as it was clear she was near tears, and she shut her eyes tightly so that she wouldn't start sobbing right there in front of her mother. She tried to appear strong, but her emotions of Simba's absence were getting the best of her. And seeing Nala in such pain as this was just as excruciating for her mother to have to see as well. So Sarafina leaned in to her and put both of her paws on her back and brought her in closer to her, where she embraced Nala comfortingly as she warmly hugged her. Nala rested her head on Sarafina's shoulder as this happened, and they stayed like that for some time. Nala felt tears run down her face, and her mother gently wiped them away for her as best as she could with her paw. Right then, both of them needed comfort.

Sarafina was about to say something to further ease her daughter's depression, but suddenly their soft moment together was interrupted when they heard a voice call for them from the entrance to the den of Pride Rock right then.

"Hey! What's the big idea, you two were supposed to end this stupid sob-fest an hour ago!"

Both of the lionesses abruptly looked behind them, separating their hug to find Shenzi, the leader of the hyena's main scouting pack, standing there with an impatient look on her face. "You guys better get back in here before Scar gets furious... _again_!"

She put an unusual emphasis on 'again', forcing the two lionesses to recall all of the times Scar threatened to kill them over the pettiest of things like this. Sarafina sighed and faced her daughter in the eye.

"It'll be all right, Nala." She said as best as she could. "We'll get through this. You'll see."

As Sarafina began to walk back to the den, Nala stayed behind for a moment more as she mumbled, "Simba would want us to."

* * *

As the lost prince thought to himself about the life he once had all of those whom he had loved, his mindset slowly began to drift away from his father and move more towards some of the other loved ones he still held so dear to his heart. His sobs of sorrow only intensified as he laid there on the ground with his arms still covering his face.

"I miss you all." Simba said between whimpers. "I miss you father, I miss mom, and I miss... Nala..."

Almost immediately upon thinking of his childhood friend for the first time in what felt like a thousand years to him, Simba felt within him at least some of his immense sadness begin to recede in the same way that a land covered in destructive flood waters eventually subside. Simba moved his arms away from his head and gently perked up.

"Nala..." He said with intent on his own word, this time with his sobs beginning to suddenly cease. He rubbed his eyes with his paw to try and wipe away the tears from his now bloodshot eyes. All at once, a tremendous deluge of memories struck his mind once more, only this time they were not of his father. But of his childhood best friend.

He vividly remembered her playful attitude, her friendly and adventurous psyche, her heartwarming smile, her beautiful blue eyes that shared the color of the most clear and vibrant of the world's oceans, and finally how she would always stick with him as his best friend no matter what kinds of trouble he'd get her in. He wondered how much pain he was indirectly putting her through right at that very moment because of his absence.

At that same instant as Nala stood on the edge of Pride Rock, preparing to go back into the den with the others to avoid another outburst from Shenzi or Scar, she too remembered her childhood friend. Nala vividly recalled Simba's daring tone and how he loved to break the rules for fun (so long as it didn't go too far), his loving smile, his red eyes that were the color of the sky at dawn, and most of all she remembered how Simba always cared for her and would never abandon her when she got into trouble. He always stuck up for her whenever she needed it. Nala sighed.

At that same time, Simba finally stood up from his spot in the heart of the jungle, where he moved his paws away from the small cliff's edge and stared up to the stars. Nala did the very same at Pride Rock, taking one last look at the cloudless and clear night sky before going to sleep amongst her pride. And likewise, Simba was just about to leave from his spot and return to the grassy bed at the base of the tree where he, Timon and Pumbaa normally slept. And as they at the same time looked at the very same star amongst the millions there, the brightest one in all of the sky in fact, they both said it precisely at the same moment:

"I miss you."

* * *

**Author's Note: I would like to thank the author wolfartist117 for allowing me to have the rights to this story of theirs and to write this new, redone version for them. I hope they enjoy the things I've added to their original story, it is a privilege to be able to take such a great idea to its full potential. In addition, I would like to thank the author Autobot0001 for their support and ideas for how this can go, he's been incredibly helpful in the making of this. Finally, I would like to thank and give credit to the DeviantArt user Katanary for giving me permission to use their artwork titiled "I Miss You" as the cover to this story.**

**Also, just for the disclaimer, I do not own The Lion King or any of its characters. They belong to Walt Disney Studios, and I claim no ownership of anything. This is strictly for fun.**

**And before anyone asks, yes, I believe Nala's eyes were blue and not green. So sue me.**


	2. Chapter II

**Chapter II**

Several days passed in the Pride Lands without even so much as a trickle of hope after that night. The hot, dry weather would beat down on every inch of the kingdom with almost no water left in any of the rivers to compensate. The lionesses continued their daily hunts like usual, but precisely as Nala feared, every time they managed to catch anything Scar and the hyenas would greedily devour it all for themselves with absolutely no concern for the others. At one point they talked of refusing to hunt all together if that was how they would be treated, but Scar wouldn't have it, threatening to kill them all for food himself if they didn't. So against all of their wills, the lionesses of the pride had no choice but to catch their prey only for the hyenas, only having anything to themselves when they were on the verge of death. It was a truly miserable time for the kingdom.

And this was not going unnoticed by any of them either. Roughly seven days after Nala's talk with her mother, Sarafina, Sarabi and the others were scavenging on the edge of the Outlands hoping to find any shred of life. All of them scattered to cover as much ground as possible, where Sarafina and Sarabi were both hunting together walking side by side against the arid, cracked ground littered with bones. It truly was no better that the Outlands anymore. As the blazing hot sun against a cloudless sky beat down on them mercilessly, Sarafina sighed.

"Sarafina, has Mheetu been all right?" Sarabi gently asked with concern glowing in her voice. Sarafina simply bowed her head in sadness as she continued walking.

"He... he's been terrible lately, Sarabi." She said gloomily. "Scar only lets him eat once a day now, and yesterday he could barely get up without both Nala and I helping him get off the ground."

Sarabi could tell that Sarafina was using every ounce of strength she still had within her to prevent her voice from breaking down into sobs of fear. She gave her friend a sympathetic look.

"I'm so terribly sorry." Was the only thing the queen managed to say. "If you want, we could possibly sneak for food tonight and feed him while Scar is asleep."

Sarafina looked beside her for a moment before she replied firmly, "It sounds pretty dangerous. But if that's what I need to do to keep him from starving... All right. As long as Scar doesn't know."

Sarabi nodded. "What about Nala? Would we need to sneak food for her too?"

"It'd be a good idea. She hasn't been much better." Sarafina replied. The lioness hesitated before she went on, "Hey Sarabi?"

"Hm?"

"Do you remember last week when we were at the gorge for the anniversary of... you know..."

Sarabi's ears drooped significantly at the thought of that, and she shut her eyes as she walked. "Yes, I do. Why?"

The lioness went on, "Well when we got back from that, Nala and I had a talk. She said that... Simba once told her the great kings of the past look down on us from the stars. Do you think that's really true?"

Sarabi's eyes suddenly opened faster than they ever had, and she immediately looked over to her. Her eyes widened. "Really? She said that? I... I haven't heard about that in years."

"She told me that if you're ever alone, just look up to them for guidance. What do you think?"

Sarafina pondered some things in her mind for a moment before she said, "Yes... Mufasa used to say that to me all the time. He said he learned it from his father, and the night that hyena attack happened he told it to Simba. That was the last time they ever got to speak."

That last part the queen said with a very disheartened tone in her voice, recalling once again everything both Simba and Mufasa had ever said and done for her. She exhaled deeply.

"I am thankful that if that was their last talk, he was at least able to tell Simba something worth saying for his last time with him." Sarabi said.

Sarafina sighed. "You know, Sarabi? Nala said that when he was alive, she was in love with Simba."

Sarabi nodded, and the lioness watched as her expression lightened slightly. She opened her eyes at last. "I could tell it too, Sarafina. That was why Mufasa and I betrothed them. They just got along so well and did everything together... it was only a matter of time before they realized it. Instinct told me how they felt for each other."

A brief pause fell upon them as they stopped walking for a moment, listening to the soft, eerie winds around them. They had stopped next to a large pile of rocks that had been there for as long as they could remember, where Sarafina rested the right side of her body against them. The large rocks felt hot against her fur, but her paws were simply too tired now to fully support her. Whether it was from the starvation or depression over the whole situation in the Pride Lands, she would never know. The Sarafina looked back over in a bit of a tired fashion and said to her old friend with a sad yet firm tone in her voice, "You know, Sarafina? If Simba were alive with us, I'd let him marry Nala right here and now if he asked it."

Sarabi nodded. "As would I." She replied. "They'd never be able to become king or queen because of Scar, but..."

Then it happened.

Not a second later as Sarabi began to speak, her ears instantly perked up when she heard something off in the distance. Sarafina heard it too. Sarabi stopped talking and returned to her firm posture, as did Sarafina who stood up all the way again. Not far away from where they stood, they heard footsteps coming their direction.

"No..." Sarabi said to herself with her eyes widening in horror. She leapt to the side of the pile of large stones where she carefully peered her head past the side of it, only her eyes visible. Sarafina watched as she did so for a moment before the queen gasped in horror.

"What? What is it, Sarabi?" She asked suddenly. But before she said anything else, Sarabi turned back around and placed her paw on Sarafina's head, ducking it downwards slightly.

"Get down!" She whispered to her friend. "Scar's coming this way!"

Sarafina's eyes shot open as she suddenly crouched as low to the ground as she could, where Sarabi moved right over to her left. The two lionesses looked past the rocks just enough so that they wouldn't be seen, and looked onward. There ahead of them, they saw Scar himself approaching their direction with a surprisingly satisfied look on his face. Several hyenas surrounded him as they walked together, apparently talking about something the two lionesses couldn't quite make out. At least not yet.

"I've gotta tell you Scar old buddy, this's gotta be the best idea you've had in a long time! You've gotta tell them now!" One of the hyenas to his right said. Scar merely chuckled humorously.

"In due time, my comrade. In due time." The lion replied.

Sarabi narrowed her eyes in disgust at the sight of him and his hyenas, growling ever so softly as she did.

"I can't even stand to look at that tyrant anymore." She said under her breath, just softly enough so that Sarafina couldn't hear. "If every one of us dies of starvation, he'd probably be proud of that too."

Sarafina crawled forth by only a step. "What are they saying?" She whispered. Here, the two lionesses now listened intently at Scar's conversation with the seven hyenas that crowded him, acting as though he was the greatest friend they had ever had. Several of them laughed and joked around with each other as they heard Scar now say proudly,

"I plan to announce it tonight, my friends. At last I will have an heir to the throne, and my legacy will be _immortal_!"

Then a hyena asked him, "But Scar, what if she just says no? I mean there's no way she's just gonna say-"

Then unexpectedly, Scar turned around and grabbed his throat with his claws, startling both of the lionesses to the point where they almost revealed themselves from shock. Scar brought the hyena closer to him as his tone grew far more sinister than before.

"That is where that stubborn brat of a cub will come in."

Sarafina gasped. "Mheetu!" She said in realization. "What the hell is he-!?"

Then, her question was answered before it had even finished. Scar said madly, "If Nala rejects my proposal to be my queen, then I will kill that pesky little brother of hers on the spot... Like I should have when the brat was first born."

That did it for the two lionesses, who both gasped in shock upon hearing these words. Sarafina's eyes widened in horror while Sarabi's mouth fell open as far as her jaw muscles would allow. Neither one of them could fully comprehend what Scar had said until what felt to them like an hour later.

"No... No! That can't be!" Sarabi was the first to say with terror filling her voice. She looked over to Sarafina, and the look on her friend's face said it all.

"He... He's going to make Nala his queen..." She barely managed to say. Not caring anymore if Scar even noticed her now, Sarafina stood up all the way, and her breathing rate increased dramatically. Sarabi gave her friend a very concerned look.

"Sarafina..." She started to say To her. But before she could finish, the lioness interrupted the queen, now with hints of anger in her voice.

"That sick son of a... How could he do this?! Nala can't be his queen, she isn't even half his age yet! I... I refuse to let it happen! He's not going to do this, this is too far!"

Sarabi took a step closer to her now. "Sarafina... I don't want this to happen any more than you do. But you heard what Scar said. If she refuses, he's going to kill Mheetu!"

Sarafina tried to say something in defense, but ultimately came up with nothing. She just stood there for a good ten seconds unblinkingly and motionless, where her breathing almost seemed to come to a halt. Then, not caring that Sarabi was standing hardly six inches away from her, the poor lioness abruptly broke down completely. She bowed her head in sadness and simply let her tears flow from her eyes, sobbing in front of the queen. She put her paw on her forehead.

"W-what am I going to do, Sarabi?" She asked in between sobs. "Nala can't be his queen! I can't allow that tyrant to be with her! She... She deserves so much better than him!"

Sarabi simply gave the lioness a compassionate look as she came directly up to her now and placed a paw on her shoulder. In that instant in time, Sarafina felt absolutely helpless. She refused to just stand aside and watch a horrible lion like Scar take her daughter as queen, but if she didn't, Mheetu was going to die when he had his whole life ahead of him. Sarafina had once before heard of the term 'impossible decision', but never before had she ever had to endure one. That had just changed in that instant.

"Scar's going too far this time, Sarafina." Sarabi said through the lioness's sobs of sorrow. "If there is _any_ way at all that I can help you through this, I'll swear my life to it."

Sarafina looked up to her. Sarabi had always been a gentle queen who put the well being of her subjects ahead of herself, so it calmed her slightly to sell that persist even when learning this kind of news. She tried to collect herself.

"Thank you, Sarabi." She said.

"Nala is not going to be Scar's queen, and Mheetu will _not_ be harmed. I already lost my son, I am not going to let you lose yours too."

"What can we do?" the lioness asked. "He's the king. What could we possibly say to him that would-?"

Sarabi interrupted her now. What she said here was something that she had only hoped to the great kings that she would not have to come to, but seeing this kind of situation, there was no choice.

"Sarafina... You must get your children as far away from the Pride Lands as possible."

The lioness's eyes widened upon hearing this, and her mouth fell open in shock. "W-what?"

"If this is what Scar's reign has come to, it's too dangerous for them to live in the Pride Lands any longer. They must leave Pride Rock."

Sarafina shook her head disbelievingly, never taking her gaze away from the queen. "No, no they can't! I don't want to lose them both! You remember how hard it was to convince Scar to let Mheetu live, if he and Nala just disappear... who knows what he could do!"

Sarabi reluctantly replied, "I don't want them to leave either, Sarafina. But if you don't want Nala to be Scar's queen by sunrise tomorrow, it's our only choice."

Sarafina thought for a moment before she perked up. "What if... what if I offered to be his queen?"

"You wouldn't..."

"I'll do it for Nala!" she went on. "I'll be his queen, I'll have his cubs if I have to, I'll do whatever he wants! As long as Nala and Mheetu stay safe from him, I'll do it right now!"

"No, you can't!" Sarabi said firmly. "He'll never accept it! Once Scar decides something, that's it. There's no going back."

"But we need to try!" The lioness pleaded. "We have to... Nala can't... Mheetu needs..."

Eventually, she simply sighed in misery, bowing her head in sadness. A single tear came from the corner of her eye and fell to the arid, cracked ground where it evaporated in seconds. She sniffled.

"Oh, you're right, Sarabi. Scar would never want me if Nala's the one he's after. It's just... sending them both away from the Pride Lands seems so desperate to me, what if we never see them again?"

Sarabi put her paw on the lioness's back, trying to give her the most supportive look that she could. "They may not be here, Sarafina, but they'll be away from Scar's tyranny. They'll be free. Free to have the rest of their lives ahead of them in a better place instead of these dying lands."

"But where could they go?" She asked further. Sarabi smirked.

"Well, the Pride Lands can't be the only place in Africa that have ever been livable. They'll find someplace to go, you just need to trust your instincts. Remember, instinct is what's gotten us this far, and it's never steered us wrong yet."

A moment of silence came to pass amongst them now. Sarafina tried her best to cease her sobs of fear, but ultimately found herself completely unable to do so. Sarabi put both of her paws on her back and brought her friend in up to her, where the queen hugged her sincerely. They both tried to look as strong as they could as this went down, with Sarafina sobbing into Sarabi's neck.

"I'm going to miss them..." She said softly. Sarabi moved her paw up to her shoulder.

"It's for their own good, Sarafina. If there were ever a chance to get them away from Scar and to a new place of life, now is the time. They can't survive here much longer. None of us can."

Sarafina reluctantly looked up to her and, after a good ten seconds or so, managed to crack a faint smile. "You're right, Sarabi. S-Simba would want Nala to have better than this."

"He would want better for all of us."

* * *

Inside the den of Pride Rock, it was anything but solemn. The young cub that was Mheetu was curled up into a ball on the ground at the back side of the place, sobbing quietly into his fur. Nala, who was his stepsister, was crouched down to try and face him as best as she could. Mheetu had a cream colored pelt with a white underbelly, a dull red tuft of fur on his head, and deep blue eyes that were almost the same color as Nala's. The teenaged lioness had a very clearly concerned look on her face as she watched Mheetu cry so sadly to himself, since the poor child had not eaten a thing since early yesterday morning, and even then it was only the leftover scraps of what Scar hadn't finished. The cub was absolutely suffering because of him.

"Oh Mheetu... I'm so sorry about all of this. But don't worry, they'll bring back food for you. I know it." She tried to say in a comforting tone. But the young cub took little notice of it.

"N-no they won't!" He wept. "The hyenas are jus-just gonna take it all again! They a-a-always do!"

Nala sighed deeply, trying desperately to find the right words to say to him. "I-I'm so... so hungry!" The cub went on. "I can't... I can't move, Nala! Please, help me!"

Nala replied with as much strength as she could muster, "I'll tell you what, Mheetu... when mommy comes back with the food, I'll sneak some from her and give it to you. Does that sound good?"

Mheetu tried his best to stop crying and look up, opening his blue eyes for the first time in an hour. They were badly bloodshot and tired, but still he looked his older sister in the eye to the best of his abilities at that moment.

"You... you will?"

"Absolutely." Nala said, nodding. "You need food more than those hyenas do."

Mheetu opened his mouth to say something else, but he never got to say what he wanted to. For in that instant, they both could hear someone calling just outside of Pride Rock. Nala stood up fully when she heard it echo across the lands on the outside.

"Nala! Oh Nala, please tell me you're here!" It said urgently. It was Sarafina.

"Mommy?" Mheetu said faintly and suddenly. "Is she here with... with the f-food?"

Nala looked down to him. "I'm not sure."

She cleared her throat now. "Mom? Mom, what are you doing here?" Nala called to the den's entrance. The teenaged lioness turned around and faced the outside now, just in time to see her mother stagger up to the den and run inside, panting heavily as she did so. Nala instantly grew worried for her seeing her like this. She took a few steps up to her mother.

"Mom, what is it?" She asked seeing her mother with such a concerned look. Sarafina was silent for a moment as she heard her son say in a voice that was strained from so much weeping, "Mommy, I'm so hungry! Do you have... any food?"

Sarafina glanced over to the cub and said, "No. Not yet."

It was clear that she was almost entirely out of breath when she said this, making Nala even more concerned. "Mom, what's going on?"

Not a second after she asked this, another lioness entered the cave. It was Sarabi as Nala could see. She seemed fairly out of breath too, as though the both of them had sprinted to Pride Rock as fast as they could. And given her advanced age, Sarabi rarely ever ran unless it was for hunting purposes.

"Sarafina, you must get them out of Pride Rock before Scar returns!" She urged. Sarafina looked back to the lioness. "I know, but... s-she doesn't know yet. I need to at least tell her." She said sadly.

Nala looked at her mother in a state of total confusion, but in the gleam of her eye, a hint of fear could be detected as well. "Tell me what, is something wrong?" She questioned. "Is it the hyenas? Scar?"

At the den's entrance, Sarabi stepped forwards a few steps in an attempt to speak, but then she was halted when Sarafina raised her paw up at her. "No... I'll tell her." She insisted. "You get back with the hunting party before Scar notices you're gone."

With that, Sarabi took one last long look at he old friend in complete sympathy, knowing exactly what was about to go down with not just her, but what remained of her family. Sarafina motioned her to leave, and reluctantly the queen complied. She sighed.

"May the kings of the past watch over you all." Sarabi prayed before she stepped out of the den and back into the blazing sunlight, hoping for the best on the situation. In that moment, it took all of her strength and composure not to burst out into sorrowful tears, knowing full and well that she may never see who was once Simba's future queen again.

Nala tried to say something else now, but was interrupted when Sarafina now walked past her and over to Mheetu, where she crouched down and whispered to her son, "Mheetu... you have to get up. Come on, mommy's going to help you." She said as comfortingly and as motherly as she could. And with that, she nudged Mheetu up to his weakened paws until he staggered up to stand, barely able to keep his posture for more than a few seconds at a time. He looked absolutely miserable.

"Mom, what is _going on_?!" Nala demanded now starting to worry. She took a few steps closer to her and watched as Mheetu could barely keep his eyes open. Sarafina looked over to her daughter and reluctantly answered at last,

"It's Scar."

"What do you mean? What's he doing this time?" She asked, clearly in a state where she was now desperate for answers of some kind. Sarafina sighed. Ever so gently, she nudged her son in Nala's direction in an attempt to help him walk to her. He did as was implied and he looked up to her.

"Mommy, what's Scar doing?" He asked fearfully.

Then finally, Sarafina said to her daughter with reluctance glowing in her voice, "He's gone too far this time, Nala. Sarabi and I overheard him saying that... he plans to make you his queen so he could have an heir."

A long, almost eerie period of silence fell upon the den of Pride Rock as Nala comprehended these words. Right then, the sound of her breathing almost ceased and she cowered back in shock. Her eyes were as wide as they could physically be, and her mouth fell open in absolute dismay.

"What?"

"He wants you to be his mate by tonight."

Nala cringed when she heard this, and she took a step back. "No... No, he can't do that!" She started, anger rising in her voice. "I'm not even half his age, what kind of sick bastard would... I-I refuse!"

She looked down to the ground in a state of absolute disgust, despising even the very thought of being anywhere near that tyrant of a king. Mheetu felt like he wanted to say something on the matter, but the poor child was just too weak to even do so. A few seconds later, Nala shut her eyes right as she felt her mother's warm fur embrace her own while she put her paw on her back. She sighed sympathetically.

"Nala... there's only one way I can protect you from this." She said to her daughter. "But you have to promise to do it, no matter how bad it sounds, there's just no other way."

Nala was still for a while until she asked reluctantly, "Yeah, and what's that?"

"I... I have to send you and Mheetu away from the Pride Lands. It's the only way to protect you." Sarafina said as she withdrew herself from her daughter, allowing her to contemplate the thought and collect herself. She looked back to Mheetu.

"So this is what it's come to then, huh?" She said. "A full grown lion wants a teenaged lioness to give him an heir. How could he...?"

She stopped for a moment and looked back to Sarafina. "I'm not sure about this, mom. The Pride Lands are our home! We've lived here ever since we were born, we can't-"

She stopped right there. As much as Sarafina didn't want to admit it, she knew that Nala had a good point. The Pride Lands had been her home ever since the day of her birth, and now all of a sudden both she and her brother were given little other choice but to abandon both the kingdom and everyone they had ever grown to know and love beforehand. Sarafina sighed.

"Oh I know it's a lot to take in, sweetie." She said as comfortingly and as motherly as she could. "I don't want to ask it of you either. But if you don't leave, Scar's going to force you into it. As hard as you try, he'll get his way. Once he decides something, there's no changing it."

"But what about Mheetu?" She asked. "If I leave and he stays here, you wouldn't have to feed me anymore. You could just give everything to him, maybe then he could-"

Sarafina interrupted her. "We can't, Nala. Scar's barely letting him live here now, and he only spared him because of you. If you suddenly went missing..."

The lioness hesitated before she reluctantly finished, "Only the great kings of the past would know what Scar would do with him. If you disappeared on your own, I don't think his undernourishment would be his biggest problem anymore. And that's why you need to take him with you, Nala. As much as it hurts to do it, you need to leave if you want him to survive."

Nala sighed. She turned away from her mother and her gaze fell upon her brother, who was leaning his side against her paw. And although it was very faint, the lioness managed to smirk at what innocence remained in the cub right then.

"Nala, what's going on?" He asked quietly. Nala crouched down and brought herself closer to him. She answered,

"Mheetu... we... we have to go somewhere now."

"Where?" He asked.

Nala was about to say something in response, but ultimately came up with nothing. She quickly looked back up to her mother and gave her a concerned look. "Mom... where do we go? Where _can_ we go?"

Here, she sighed. Sarafina looked behind her to the outside of the den, where the breeze was now gently blowing inside. It wasn't until now that either of the lionesses noticed that the sun was beginning to set behind Pride Rock, hidden from view. The sky was turning a pinkish-violet color, the clouds were red from the sunset, and the shadows of all the trees ahead of them were beginning to grow upon the ground. Had it not been for the unforgiving desolation of the kingdom caused by Scar, it would have been a wholly beautiful and uplifting sight to see.

Sarafina took a moment to gaze upon the dusk sky for a bit until she replied to Nala as heartily as she could, "Just walk towards the sun, Nala. Follow it... and don't look back."

Then the teenaged lioness looked back down to Mheetu and crouched down to him, lowering her head right in front of him. He perked up slightly when she did.

"Come on, Mheetu." She said. "Climb up on my back, we have to leave soon."

The cub struggled to get a grip onto Nala's neck, but after she nudged him up with her paw, it didn't take long for him to find his footing on her. Nala stood back up straight again, causing Mheetu to slide down a bit where he now sat comfortably on Nala's back. He laid down on his stomach as best as he could, still barely even able to stay upright in his underfed state.

"Will we be coming back?" He asked tiredly. "Will anything get better here?"

Sarafina and Nala both looked at him and gave him incredibly disheartened looks. The remaining innocence in his voice made it clear that he thought they would be coming back one day, but both of the lionesses sadly knew otherwise. Neither one of them wanted to tell him the truth about leaving indefinitely, let alone how Scar had threatened to kill him. Sarafina had not even told Nala about that yet. So the older lioness simply sighed and said to her son,

"It's only for a little while, sweetie. You'll see mommy again soon, I promise."

It pained her right to the center of her heart to have to lie to her only son this way, but if he was to keep his composure in his time of malnutrition, he needed all of the mental strength he could get, and she was not going to take the risk of having that hindered by the knowledge that he may never see his mother again. She let out a deep breath as her ears drooped depressingly. Giving her a sad look for a while, Nala threw herself into her mother and put both of her front paws around her, where she did the same for her. They hugged sadly in that moment as Nala placed her head on her mother's shoulder, possibly for the last time. Sarafina simply pet Mheetu with her paw, letting it move around on him since she knew this was likely the last time she would ever see her own flesh and blood.

"I'm so sorry I can't do more for you both." She said, her voice near tears. "Please, Nala... take good care of Mheetu."

She nodded against her shoulder as hot tears began to stream from her eyes. "I will, mom... I will."

"I'm going to miss you, mommy." The cub said as he laid on Nala's back, feeling somewhat comforted by the gentle feeling of his mother's paw against his head. Sarafina replied as a single tear ran down her cheek, "I... I'm going to miss you too, Mheetu."

She turned to Nala. "And you, sweetie."

Sarafina took a while to embrace both of her children before she finished in a quivering voice, "You've made me so proud to have you both... You've made me so proud to see you make it this far in such hard times and never give up... I... I want you to promise me that you'll both be strong. Never give in no matter what happens."

Nala nodded. "I will, mom. I'll do everything I can to keep us both safe."

She just barely managed to crack a smile at the comment. "That's my girl." She said softly, softly stroking the back of her head now.

"I'll be strong too, mommy." Mheetu said also, sounding as though he were on the verge of passing out from starvation. Since he was but a young cub, he could not yet fully comprehend exactly what was going on here. Even in this time, the innocence within him still showed. "When will we be back?"

"It's only for a little while, Mheetu." Nala said back to him. "There's going to be food where you're going. We'll see mommy again until then, all right?"

Mheetu nodded. "Okay then."

The two lionesses took one last look at each other in sadness, with Sarafina realizing she was about to lose both her daughter and Nala realizing she was about to lose her mother. But both of them knew that there was no other way out of this, as much as they didn't want to face that fact. Sarafina released her grip of her daughter and sighed heftily as she looked to the outside.

"Go. Before it's too late." She unwillingly urged in a quiet tone. Nala nodded, and as strongly as she could, she at last started for the exit of the den. She walked through it to the outside and gave one final look to the one who had given birth to her and cared for her from the day she arrived on the planet.

"I love you mom." She said with tears in her eyes.

"We'll miss you." Mheetu added. Sarafina's gaze never left his. "I will too, Mheetu. I... I love you both."

And with a single gust of wind that came to ruffle their fur, Nala and Mheetu took one last look at their mother and their home before they turned around and set for the dry, stony slope that led from Pride Rock to the ground. With her breathing picking up as though she were about to burst into tears again, Nala treaded to the ground and looked behind her, to where she could see the violet horizon of the sun illuminating the visible rims of Pride Rock's form all around it. And not wanting to waste even a moment, Nala sprinted off in that direction with her eyes shut tight and her paws running across the drought-riddled ground. The lioness went all across the length of Pride Rock's side until she was past it within a few minutes.

While the form of the massive citadel shrank ever so slowly behind her with her only brother on her back, Nala thought to herself firmly, _Don't worry, mom. We'll come back some day. I'll come back and bring help. Even if it takes me the rest of our lives, I'll find something. I'm not going to let you and the other lionesses suffer because of Scar. Not like this._

And soon when she ran though what was left of the grasses of the Pride Lands, her anguished thoughts began to linger elsewhere. _If only Mufasa hadn't perished that day. Why did he have to die? Why did he and Simba... Simba..._

Upon even thinking that name to herself again, her heart felt like it had painfully split in two, not even wanting to finish that thought. She shook her head. Something about the name 'Simba' just felt so strange when she thought of it. Not because she was heartbroken or depressed by his memory and what was lost, but this time it almost felt as though it was casting a light of hope within her. Essentially, she reasoned that his memory was what was giving her the strength to move forward as she approached the trickling river that marked the borders between the Pride Lands and the Outlands. But in this harsh time of drought, both sides of the swampy stream seemed exactly the same.

When she crossed the bog by carefully making her way across a fallen tree and using her claws to grip into it, she knew she was officially headed into unknown territory. Although she and Simba had ventured into the heart of the Elephant Graveyard once before, the Outlands were at least a hundred times more expansive and more dangerous than the Elephant Graveyard could have ever hoped to be. Hostile and feral lionesses were said to live beyond the borders of the Pride Lands, and although she could fight well enough thanks to the tough living conditions with the hyenas, her hunting skills were still in their earliest stages. In short, when she crossed the log fully and set foot into the domain of the Outlands, she felt as though she had only wandered into another part of the Pride Lands. They were that desolate, and a single tear ran down Nala's cheek as she hoped for the best. With her brother now sound asleep on her back, she took a deep breath before she stopped moving to catch her breath, and looked ahead of her into the unknown.

Home was behind, the world ahead.


	3. Chapter III

**Chapter III  
**

The heat and light of the noon sun against a cloudless sky was nothing short of relentless against Nala and Mheetu's fur and bodies as the lioness and the cub walked through the arid wastelands that were the African Desert, where the ground was littered with deep cracks from the dryness of the place, and only every once in a while would a single gust of wind blow to cool them down even a little. But even then, with every bit of wind that came their way, it would also throw billowing clouds of piercing sand particles all over them. Many times they were unfortunate enough to get caught in Nala's eyes, but luckily Mheetu was safe from it since his eyes were tightly shut from being sound asleep upon his stepsister's back. When the gust of wind stopped and the sand settles against the ground again, Nala sighed to herself.

A single day and night had come to pass since her and Mheetu's unexpected and abrupt departure from their homeland, and in that time neither of them had had anything to eat or drink at all. For Nala that was bad enough, but for Mheetu, it was fearfully life threatening. At the moment, Nala was absolutely struggling to walk through the arid desert, panting to herself so she wouldn't run out of breath from the heat. The lioness felt herself starting to weaken severely, for she had been walking for what felt like hours. Since they left Pride Rock, they had only stopped once for sleep in the Outlands, and even then Nala barely could do so in fear of anything sneaking up on them in the dead of night.

Looking upon her surroundings with squinted eyes, she once again was met with the same tiring sight she had almost grown accustomed to in the last few hours: Not a single sign of life or water anywhere for miles. The eerie winds and the blazing sun made her quiver in fear as she walked, making sure to be gentle as to not wake Mheetu. Then, Nala looked behind her and looked upon her sleeping brother, his breathing seeming slower than usual.

"Oh Mheetu... what are we gonna do?" She said softly.

She looked back ahead of her and slowly licked her chops, which were feeling uncomfortably dry at that point. As she looked on to the horizon through the scorching sunlight that was bringing pain to her eyes, Nala grew increasingly worried about the ultimate fate of both herself and her brother. She was confident that her mother knew what she was doing in sending them away, but there was not a thing to be found out in that desert. She could only pray to the great kings that Mheetu would be able to even survive that day in his dangerously weakened form. In fact, it pained her to think of what the heat must've been doing back there to him. Taking a quick glance at the midday sun, Nala continued onwards against her weaknesses, hoping that wherever she was going, she would be there soon.

Suddenly, the lioness heard what sounded like a quiet yawn from behind her. She knew right away that Mheetu was waking up. The poor thing had been asleep all day to preserve what little energy he still had left, and when he awoke, Nala looked behind her and met his tired gaze.

"Good morning, Mheetu." She said even though it was high noon. Mheetu sat up and bowed his head sadly.

"Nala, I'm... I'm so thirsty." He said weakly as he rubbed his tired eyes. "I want water, I can't... I can't..."

"I know, Mheetu." Nala said back to him in as lighthearted of a tone as she could right then. "I'm thirsty too. But don't worry, I'm sure that we'll find water soon enough."

A moment of silence passed as another gust of wind could be heard in the distance. "You really think so?" Mheetu asked when the wind died down. Nala smiled. "Hey, remember what mommy used to tell us? If you look hard enough for something, anything is possible." She reassured.

With that, Mheetu buried his head once more into Nala's fur, this time keeping his eyes open since he couldn't sleep anymore. He moved himself up closer to Nala's neck.

"Thanks, sis. I can't wait." He responded confidently to his sister. When he said this, even with giving hope to her younger brother, Nala couldn't help but have the same hopes for herself as well. She knew for certain that unless they found a place within the hour, things were likely going to get ugly for Mheetu very quickly and then for herself in the long run.

But not that he knew that in any detail, of course. Indeed, now that he didn't have to worry about Scar or the hyenas any longer, he was feeling significantly better than he was the day before. Even though he was still dangerously undernourished and so thirsty that his life was at risk, he was just glad that it was only him and his big sister right then. After all, a young cub like himself didn't yet know the specifics of death by starvation or thirst, so he didn't concern himself with them as much now that he knew Scar was no longer there to steal the food from him.

Nala redirected her focus back on the open wasteland ahead of her. As hard as it was to believe, the desert that stretched as far as she could see in all directions was even worse than either the Pride Lands or the Outlands. The ground was starting to become so hot that her paws began to burn to their touch. It was painful to even touch the ground then since the afternoon was falling upon them, but still she pushed onward.

Several more hours passed. Nala and Mheetu were both getting more and more dehydrated by the moment, and Nala's paws were beginning to form faint blisters on them from walking along such scorchingly hot, hard and dry ground for so long. As much as she didn't want to, Nala felt herself beginning to lose hope altogether for herself.

But then, when the teenaged lioness was only minutes away from stopping and collapsing to the ground in exhaustion, her silent prayers to the great kings themselves had finally been answered.

Far ahead of her on the horizon, she squinted through the sunlight just hard enough to be able to spot what almost looked like a group of mountainous rock structures, surrounded by a blue haze of some sort. When she saw this, her eyes widened almost immediately, for after seeing nothing but arid desert for miles and hours at a time unceasingly now, the distant sight of this nearly made her jump.

"Mheetu... Mheetu, wake up!" She said softly through her amazed gasp as her eyes widened.

Nala looked back behind her and stared at her sleeping stepbrother for just a moment, debating on whether or not she should awake him. After all, she was confident that the structures ahead of her meant shelter of some kind, but since she was on his own with him and knew it would be her fault if he got hurt, she didn't want to take any chances just yet. So she quickly decided against rousing the cub from his much needed slumber until she was certain that the forms ahead meant something good. But despite her skeptical mood right then, deep inside of her, she knew it for certain: Finally an end to her long travel had been reached, and that ahead of her was the place she was meant to find. She knew that no place with a blue tinted haze of fog such as that would be without water. Or better yet, food.

With all of her remaining strength, Nala picked up her pace significantly in an effort to approach the very first sign of hope that she had seen since she left Pride Rock. She went at a quicker pace, but did not run at full speed in an effort to prevent Mheetu from waking up. After all, without any food, sleep was the only way he had to preserve what little precious energy he still had.

But the lioness had to admit, it was hard to keep her brisk pace at a mild speed as she got ever closer to the mountainous form in the distance, excitement rising in her body. As the two got closer, the structures became ever clearer and into better view, revealing more of their features as its clarity increased. Nala could just make out the forms of multiple lush, green trees that surrounded the mountains on all sides on the ground, where thin mist covered the mountain's peak. The sounds of loud insects and jungle birds could be heard echoing faintly in the air around her, and although it was difficult for her to tell, Nala could've sworn she felt the air around her gradually start to cool down as she went ever closer to it. And when the moisture suddenly increased around her, Nala's heart rate soared with abrupt excitement. For there was no denying it now- Against all possibly odds or expectations, she had come across an expansive, lush jungle of some sort. The most she expected to find was a small oasis or some sort of grassy savannah plain, but there the moist jungle was staring her right in the face. High thrill shot through her entire body from head to paw, and her face grew a large, hopeful smile as her pace quickened.

"A jungle... no way!" She said in an amazed tone as she felt herself beginning to walk faster to the point where she outright ran now. At first she thought she was seeing things, but now she knew that was not the case as the green trees and low lying plants scattered all over them came closer into view.

"We're gonna make it, Mheetu!" She panted with her hopes soaring. "_You're_ gonna make it!"

She could almost taste the cool, moist air that covered her entire body now. The ground she ran against was becoming steadily cooler too, moving away from the blazing desert she had been moving through all day.

Then, finally after watching the trees and the mountains grow larger with every passing moment, Nala had at last reached the trees that marked the border of the jungle. Seeing now that they were mostly palm trees, they were much taller than any other trees she had ever seen before as they seemed to tower over her, and their leaves were all dripping wet with humidity. Beyond that, the trees led to a large patch of green grass that had scattered bushes and low-lying jungle plants within them. Stepping onto it, Nala felt a virtual explosion of relief within her as she sighed in an almost relaxed way. It had been hours since the last time she had stepped in grass as soft as this, and she finally stopped walking to let her paws enjoy the serenity of their moisture. She felt the dryness and heat all over her body disappear as she let the cold drops of water from the palm trees' leaves fall upon her. She shut her even and took a calm, deep breath.

"A jungle... a whole jungle!" She said almost disbelievingly, still amazed at her stroke of luck. The lioness looked ahead of her with her eyes wide open, astonished as she saw the trees and plants thicken ahead of her as far as the eye could see.

"We made it, mother... we're saved. Thank you." Nala said to herself.

Taking just one more moment to catch her breath and listen to the sounds of insects off in the distance, Nala decided that she was not going to wait any longer to find food for Mheetu. She tensed up and walked deeper into the dense jungle now, her paws feeling infinitely better than they did before as they touched the soft dirt ground and wet plants. The lioness ventured for some time, admiring the sight of the sunlight streaming through the canopy the way it did.

The first thing that Nala set out to find was water. She knew that a lion cub like Mheetu needed water more vitally than food, as undernourished as he still was. And at first, the only thing she could find was the droplets of humidity covering most of the tree trunks and leaves. At one point a drop struck her on her nose, startling her slightly.

Suddenly, Nala stopped. Her ears perked up significantly when she carefully moved past a thick bush of some sort, stepping out through the other side. Absolutely still and silent now, Nala listened for a while more until she heard what sounded like a waterfall in the distance. It was a deep, low pitched rushing water sound that sounded like it was coming from a massive source. She smiled.

"Yes!" She whispered to herself, turning her whole body to the north. Where there was a waterfall, there had to be drinkable water with it, she figured. So hearing the noise, Nala ran as fast as she could, not caring if Mheetu were to awake anymore. Making careful sure not to trip over any tree roots or stub her paws against any rocks, she listened with her eyes and ears wide open as the sounds of the rushing water got ever louder. The resonance was almost sonorously loud by the time she approached a long line of thick bushes that obstructed her view of anything beyond them. Leaping through the bushes and landing on the other side, Nala suddenly stopped once more. Beyond the plants was a sight that made her heart leap with joy.

She had stopped short on the edge of a cliff that overlooked a generally small yet wide waterfall where the water was flowing down into a large pond, hardly ten feet below where her front paws rested. The pond was surrounded on all sides by jungle trees, where she could just see the top of the canopy from where she stood and how the place expanded in all directions. The teenaged lioness, overcome with shock and awe at first, collected herself at the beautiful sight as she looked downwards in an attempt to find a safe way down. Just below her, she saw what appeared to be a rocky declining slope that led directly to the base of the wide waterfall and to the pond. She cautiously set her foot upon one of the rocks and moved it around a little to make sure it was stable. It was.

"It won't be long now, Mheetu." She whispered happily as she stepped down the stony pathway. "You're gonna be all right now."

It only took half a minute to get her way down the path and onto the grass that grew only a couple of feet from the water on all sides. Nala gazed upon the water's clarity with awe. Hope and relief shot through her veins, for as of right then she couldn't have been happier that she came this way in the first place.

Looking over her shoulder, Nala eagerly nudged her brother. "Mheetu... Mheetu, wake up!" She said softly, though the anxiousness was apparent in her voice. "You have to see this!"

The cub was motionless for a moment until he stirred from his sleep and yawned. He immediately stood up when he did as his eyes opened, immediately aware of his new surroundings. The cub soon grew a shocked and yet confused look on his face.

"Nala? Where are we?" He asked tiredly, rubbing his eyes with his paw to make sure he wasn't just seeing or imagining things.

"Mheetu, mother was right!" She replied excitedly. "We found a jungle! A whole jungle, can you believe it? There's water here!"

Noticing the pond ahead of them after looking past his sister, he took a moment to look at the waterfall in its glory, like nothing he had ever seen before. His mouth fell open as far as his jaw muscles would comfortably allow.

"Is... is this a dream, sis?" He asked through his amazement. Nala quickly shook her head.

"No. This is real, Mheetu. You're going to be all right now. We both will."

She turned her attention back to the pond. "Come on, let's get you a drink for a change." She finished with a smile.

And with that, she ran over to the edge of where the water was and stopped when her front paws stepped into their chill serenity, where she felt goose bumps appear all over her body. The water helped immensely in easing the pain of the blisters all over the bottom sides of her paws. Then Nala leaned the front end of her body down to the grass and to the right, where Mheetu gently slid off her back and into the grass. Nala helped the poor cub to the pond's waterside as he staggered his way over to it, resting on his stomach when he dipped his head into it. Nala smiled as she watched her brother drink the pond's water, finally getting what he needed after such cruelty from Scar's selfishness.

"Mm, this water tastes great, sis!" Mheetu said excitedly as he put his head under, only to come back up after a few seconds. "Thanks so much for taking us here!"

"Thank mother." Nala replied. "She was the one who told us to come this way."

A moment of silence came to pass before Nala realized something: Even though Mheetu's thirst was at last being quenched, there still remained the issue of his malnutrition. Two days had gone by without him eating anything, and for a cub, that was torture. Nala wanted to try and hunt for something for him, but she had never been able to participate in her first formal hunt back in the Pride Lands since she was not yet old enough.

However, Nala remembered that after Mheetu was born, Sarafina had given her a few short lessons herself in order to prepare her for a first hunt that unfortunately never came. In that time, she had been able to learn at least the basics of how to hunt and kill an animal. And as much as she would've wanted better training, that was going to have to suffice if Mheetu was going to have any hope for survival.

Taking a deep breath, Nala leaned in closer to Mheetu now. "Now listen, Mheetu. I'm going to go into the jungle for a while now. I'm going to find us some food, okay?"

Mheetu stopped gulping down the water and looked up to his sister. "Really? Food?" He said, almost as though the word itself was foreign to him. Nala nodded.

"There has to be something to eat in this place. But if I'm going to find you something, I need you to stay here, okay?"

The cub thought for a moment before a suddenly concerned look came to his face. "But wait, what if something tries to eat me here? I'm scared of hungry animals around here, and they might..."

Nala interrupted him. "I won't go far, Mheetu. If you need me for anything, just call. Okay?"

Another period of silence fell upon them before the cub eventually nodded, his hunger practically answering for him. "Alright. Thanks, sis."

So with that, as if on cue, Nala immediately turned around and stepped through the thick line of trees, taking one last look at her stepbrother before she went into the jungle with high hopes that she would be able to save his life.

* * *

"_Hakuuuunaaa Matataaaaa_!"

The resonance of this sudden enthusiastic shout echoed all throughout the jungle as Simba, Timon and Pumbaa walked casually past the trees around them. In the time that had passed since the anniversary of Mufasa's death, Timon and Pumbaa had done all that they could to lighten their friend up. And although he seemed to be in a better mood since then, they could both tell just from his facial expressions that something was still bothering him immensely. The teenaged lion walked in between his two friends down a mostly clear dirt pathway, with Timon on his left and Pumbaa on his right. The warthog and the meerkat appeared cheerful and energetic as they walked, listening to the echo of Timon's finishing verse. They began to laugh lightheartedly while Simba kept a straight, almost anxious looking face all the way through. All in all, Simba appeared to be rather depressed compared to Timon and Pumbaa.

"You know, that song just gets better every time." Timon said cheerfully. "And I've gotta tell ya', buddy, that was one heck of a last line I made there if I do say so myself, huh?"

Simba sighed as he looked down to him. "Yeah, you invented Hakuna Matata all right." He replied flatly.

Pumbaa then added here, "Hey Timon, how about we sing this now? _A wimoweh, a wimoweh, a wi-_"

"Pumbaa, we just finished that song this morning." Chuckled Timon, interrupting his attempted musical number. The warthog simply gave him an odd look before he shrugged. "Eh, I can't help it if I like singing it." He said.

Then a few more moments passed before, wanting to move on to something else now, Timon cleared his throat and changed the subject.

"So uh, Simba?" He started, looking up to the adolescent lion. "How are you doing since that, uh... thing you were going through before?"

"Yeah, you seemed pretty upset. What was that?" Pumbaa added.

Simba merely shrugged and lowered his head, not caring that the tip of his developing mane was coming in contact with his eyelids. His tone became more depressed than how it was before.

"T-that was nothing, guys." He reluctantly answered. "Just had some things on my mind, that's all."

"Like what things?" Timon asked. "Come on, we'll listen to you this time, buddy. We promise."

Here Pumbaa nodded, for he too wanted to know what was bothering his friend. "Yeah, this time we'll hear every little thing you s- oooohh!"

At the very second he said this, a large, blue beetle ran its way across the ground in front of the warthog, immediately catching his gaze. His eyes widened as he watched it move to the right, where he began to follow it into the bushes.

"Pumbaa? Where the heck are you going?" Timon said as he stopped walking, sighing when he saw what he was doing. Simba seemed to take no notice of Pumbaa at all since he continued onwards like usual. Timon groaned as Pumbaa followed the beetle against the ground, moving through the bushes.

"Pumbaa!" Timon shouted now turning to his direction, hoping that he would come back. But as expected, his hopes were in vein. Pumbaa disappeared through the bush and was nowhere to be seen, now moving through the thick of the jungle at a brisk pace.

"Oy..." He said rubbing his hand against his eyes. In the time that the meerkat had known him, Pumbaa was always known to be easily distracted by such things.

But his annoyance was short lived. When Timon looked back up, he saw that Simba was no longer next to him, which made him raise an eyebrow. He looked around for a bit until he saw ahead of him something he quite honestly did not expect: Simba was sitting down next to a large granite rock with his head bowed in sadness, looking out to the distant afternoon sky which was filled with clouds and mist from the jungle canopy. Timon could not see his face, so Simba considered it lucky that he never saw the tear form in his eye and run down his cheek, striking the ground below him. It took all of his strength not to start sniffling. Even though he didn't feel as bad as he did on the anniversary of his father's death, Simba was still feeling nothing short of traumatized at the experience and the hard feelings that still lingered within him even then.

"Uh, Simba? You okay over there?" He asked, almost seeming to forget about Pumbaa now. Simba gave no answer, so Timon cleared his throat. "You, uh... you up for a swim with Pumbaa and I?" He finished, trying to break what was to him an awkward silence. But to Simba, it was a solemn and thoughtful silence.

Snapping out of what could be described as his scarred trance, Simba looked back to his friend for a moment, his face and tone appearing as sad as ever.

"Yeah, I'm up for it." He answered unconvincingly. "Go get Pumbaa, I'll meet you guys there."

With that, Simba stood up and looked ahead of him again, tearing his gaze away from Timon and started going downhill from where he was, where the thickness of the jungle awaited him. Timon gave the lion a concerned look as he walked away, his form growing smaller every moment. He wanted to ask what was bothering him, since he had been like this since the last time he ran away by himself. But Timon remembered how Simba said he would be there for the swim that they planned. He figured that would be a better time to ask since Pumbaa wouldn't be so distracted then. So for the moment, he simply shrugged.

"Teens'll act like teens, I guess." He commented to himself as he turned around and groaned, hoping that Pumbaa would snap out of his own trance with the beetle.

As Timon went off to search for Pumbaa, Simba continued down the declining hillside covered in jungle trees, thinking many personal things to himself with his head bowed and not caring where he stepped. A single hot tear materialized in the corner of his eye and fell to the ground as his thoughts began to drift and dwell not on Mufasa this time; but on Nala.

"Why?" He said sadly to himself. "Why didn't I tell her when I had the chance?"

He looked up to see the sunlight streaming through the canopy. "I... I love you, Nala." He whispered. "I just wish you could know that right now."

And here, Simba stopped walking all together as a deluge of memories of his childhood friend came back to him, and now he just stood there motionless. He didn't know for the life of him how Nala could've been doing under Scar's rule, or if she even remembered him. Right then, his absolute worst fear was that Nala had found herself a new mate and forgotten about him all together. It occurred to Simba right then that if he were told a second time that he and Nala would one day would be mates, he would not have reacted so rashly like he did when he was young.

"I was such an idiot." He said, not even realizing or caring he was talking to himself now. "I should've given the betrothed thing another chance. So what if we were best friends?"

The teenaged lion then looked up to the sunlight streaming through the canopy above him, its warm rays shining down upon him. Simba took a deep breath.

"I swear on my father's spirit, Nala... if I ever got the chance to just see you one more time and tell you how I felt, that'd be fine for me."

But then, unbeknownst to Simba right then, his prayers to the great kings had just been answered. For right when he bowed his head in silence and allowed his quiet thoughts to linger further, an sudden bloodcurdling scream shot throughout the expanses of the jungle in that instant.

"_SHE'S GONNA EAT ME_!"

The abruptness of the cry made Simba nearly jump out of his skin, making his heartbeat explode in speed in under a second. His eyes shot open as he took a step back in shock, taking a moment to catch his breath. The echo of the scream still resonated when Simba was able to take in what it said, and realizing just who it came from.

"Pumbaa!" He said to himself in fear, still taken aback by the level of distress in the echo.

Immediately Simba tensed back up and sprang off in the direction where he heard the scream, reaching his top running speed in a matter of seconds. His claws ripped through the plants and narrowly missed striking the tree roots and rocks scattering the ground. He didn't know what was happening with Pumbaa just yet, but he knew that a scream like that had to be serious.

Immediately after he started running he heard another shout, this time coming from Timon. "Jeeze, why do I always have to save your- _Ahhhhh_!"

And then Simba heard what sounded like a fierce, malicious roar directly beyond the thick bushes ahead of him. He shuddered when he heard it, knowing full and well that it was the roar of a lioness. He had heard it back in the Pride Lands more than enough times to recognize it for sure, and his eyes widened in fear when he heard it.

"No!" He shouted. "Timon! Pumbaa!"

Running at full speed still, Simba panted heavily and with a mighty leap into the air which ripped clean through the bush leaves, he came through to the other side and unsheathed his claws. He knew now that an attacker was amongst them, and he was not about to let whoever it was end the lives of his two best friends while he was there.

His fears were confirmed when he bounded straight over Timon and Pumbaa and landed. Simba only saw the lioness's shocked reaction for a brief second before he pounced her head first and full force, bringing them both down to the ground in an instant. And it hardly took a second for him to start savagely attacking the lioness, as little as he had seen of her just yet. Simba roared fiercely at her as he clawed and bit at her on the ground, where in turn she did the same to him. Simba endured several clawed strikes around the eyes at the same time he violently gnawed on the lioness's neck. Roaring was rampant.

Barely ten feet away, Timon looked down to Pumbaa, who had been caught beneath a thick tree root from running away from the attacker beforehand. "Don't worry buddy, I'm here for ya'!" Timon said hectically. "Everything's gonna be okay!"

Then he turned to Simba and watched eagerly as he fought off the lioness in the violent battle. "Get her, bite her head!" He shouted avidly. "Go for the jugular, the _jugular_!"

And much to the meerkat's surprise, Simba did just that. Fiercely he went at the lioness's throat with his teeth, enduring the pain being inflicted upon him by her claws. As they fought, Simba slowly began to get a better image of the lioness he was fighting now. In between strikes both from her and himself, he saw that she had vibrant sapphire blue eyes, creamy beige colored fur and a dark, reddish-purple nose reminiscent of those back in the Pride Lands. And oddly enough, she seemed to be roughly the same age as him. But what struck Simba as most noticeable about this sudden attacker was just how familiar she appeared. Something about her face, head and even body structure felt like he had seen it before, but because he was so violently trying to keep up in the fight, he couldn't make anything out for certain beyond the malicious and savage look of rage on her face with her teeth barred right then.

Away from the fight, Timon kneeled down to Pumbaa as he stared wide-eyed at the fight, listening to the sounds of their roaring, grunting and clawing echoed all around the jungle. He said to the warthog in a rather amazed tone,

"Man, he can really fight for his age, can't he?"

The two friends watched as Simba did his best to fend off the lioness, who to him, was becoming more familiar by the minute. Something about her seemed like he had seen her before, but he just couldn't place his paw on what. However, Simba didn't have long to think about it until the lioness made an unexpected move. With a growl she thrusted herself forth against Simba, making the two virtually flip over through the air. Before the lion knew what hit him, the lioness had him pinned on his back against the ground, with leaves still flying down from the action. She snarled at her opponent for a bit as she glared at his eyes, which were wide open for reasons she did not yet know. They both panted in this position for several seconds before, in a moment that would change the course of everything, Simba said what was then the most unexpected thing possible.

"Nala...?"

It struck his mind like a bomb. Right there, pinned beneath her and looking upon her deathly gaze and into her eyes, Simba got it. He knew now why this lioness looked so familiar to him. Taken completely aback by this, Nala's barred teeth seemed to disappear at the same time that her glare did. Her face lightened up and then turned to that of absolute shock. Here eyes widened, and at that moment a shadow that fell over them before seemed to pass. Nala stood up and got herself off of Simba's chest, taking a few steps back allowing him to get back up himself. He took a deep breath as he did so. Once the teenaged lion managed to get himself on all fours, he looked intently upon Nala now. She appeared nothing short of petrified.

"I-Is it really you?" Simba asked now, regaining his posture again. The teenaged lion was silent for a solid ten seconds, and in that time the only thing anyone could hear was the silent breathing of the other. At length, Nala spoke.

"H-how do you know my name?" She managed to say in a dazed fashion. "Who are you?"

"It's me, Simba!" He eagerly replied, taking a step up to her. When he did, Nala squinted hard at the lion who had been fighting her only a moment ago, trying to see if there was any trace of resemblance in him to her childhood friend.

"But that's... that's impossible." She said confusedly. "How do you know who Simba is? He died over a year ago with his father in a stampede."

Simba shook his head. "No, I'm alive, Nala. I got away from there and found this place. D-don't you recognize me?"

At length, Nala did in fact take another moment to study his features, considering what he was saying now that she knew for sure he wasn't going to try and kill her. Squinting and coming back up to him now, Nala looked into his eyes intently. Indeed she did see a strong resemblance to her childhood friend in him. He had the same color of fur, the same eye color, the same facial structure. And indeed the rest of his physical form looked eerily similar to how she remembered Simba. Then at last, Simba smiled at her. That was what did it. If there was anything that Nala remembered about Simba more clearly than anything, it was his warm smile that he always gave to her on a daily basis, even when he was in a bad mood about something. And the smile that was on the teen lion's face ahead of her looked exactly the same as her friend's did. Her mouth fell open in shock.

"Simba...?" She said to herself, sounding absolutely astonished. The lion eagerly nodded as his smile intensified, confirming her thoughts now.

And at last, after so much time apart, their reunion had occured right then and there.

She didn't know whether it was on instinct or not, but Nala grew an absolutely radiant smile on her face as she gasped and threw herself into Simba as though she had not seen him in a thousand years. That's about what it felt like to her, at least. Seeing as though Nala had recognized him now, he placed a paw on her shoulder and put his head against her shoulder for comfort.

"Simba... it's you!" She said into his fur. "Oh great kings above, it's been so long! We thought... we thought you were..."

Her voice appeared to virtually break down in happiness when she trailed off. She felt a tear form in the corner of her eye and run down her face, where she began to sob with joy. Simba stroked the back of her head with his paw.

"Hey, it's okay, Nala. I'm here." He said comfortingly. "Just let it out."

"I've... I've missed you so much. You don't know what it's been like without you!" She sobbed. Simba nodded.

"I've missed you too, Nala." He replied, now feeling a tear come to his eye as well. He didn't bother to wipe it away.

As the lion and the lioness embraced one another lovingly, hundreds of thoughts ran through both of their minds at once, and each of them similar to the other one's. Simba recalled how only minutes ago, he had asked the great kings of the past for yet but only one chance to see Nala again and tell her how he had truly felt towards her since childhood. From that day forth, Simba never doubted that the kings had been listening to him, and that they were responsible for this reunion. He now had his chance to reveal to her the feelings he had hidden away for more than a year now.

_Thanks, dad_..., He thought to himself.

As for Nala, her joy was from a different source. Not only had she stumbled upon the most lush and life-filled jungle she could've possibly imagined, but now she had found her childhood best friend alive and well living in it after believing for so long that he had passed on. She could never have foreseen such a thing, but here he was, embracing her better than he would have with his own mother. And when she thought of that, a surge of thankfulness ran through Nala's veins as she remembered that she owed it all to her mother for sending her out in this direction in the first place.

_Thanks, mom_..., She thought to herself.

But if there was one thing that Simba and Nala both thought exactly the same as they hugged one another warmly, it was that that they could feel their dreary feelings from before melt away in their minds. Simba was no longer feeling so depressed over never seeing her again, and Nala no longer felt so anxious from Scar's situation and Mheetu's malnutrition. Here was the one lion that she knew would be able to change all of that. And she wept ever so harder as she dug herself into his fur, beginning to stroke his developing red mane on the top of his head. Joy ran through their bodies.

Suddenly their heartfelt reunion had come to an abrupt end, however. They both heard Timon scream out in annoyance,

"_Hey_! What's goin' on here?!"

The shout startled them significantly, but nonetheless they maintained their composure. They opened their eyes to find Timon standing between the two of them on the ground, looking exasperated about something. It then occured to Simba that he was having this moment with Nala while just leaving both of his best friends there without any explanation. Simba was about so say something to answer the meerkat, but once again, the unexpected happened.

In the distance, they all heard what sounded like another ear-piercing scream through the jungle. But this time it did not come from Pumbaa, for they could tell that this scream was coming from that of a child. Startling her violently, Nala knew immediately who it came from.

"Mheetu!" She said loudly with concern glowing in her voice. She glanced up to Simba and abruptly released her grip on him.

"He's in trouble, come on!"

Simba gave her a confused look, feeling somewhat disappointed that their long awaited reunion was so suddenly ending. "What? Who's Mheetu?" He asked.

"I'll explain later, just come on! He's only a cub!"

Simba didn't have any time to question it, so deciding it'd be best to continue this later, Simba looked over to Timon and Pumbaa again. He saw that Pumbaa was just getting himself unstuck from the thick branch he had been caught in during the chase before. He grunted as he popped himself loose.

"You guys, stay here!" Simba said urgently. "I've gotta go help Nala, we'll be right back!"

Timon dusted himself off as he looked up to Simba and said weakly, "Am I _ever_ going to know what this is all about?!"

Simba shook his head. "Probably not."

* * *

**Author's Note: I would like to thank the user Autobot0001 for helping me out with this chapter and offering me ideas for the turn of events. You rock, man!**

**And for some of my more familiar readers, I would like to say that although the delay has been longer than usual, Chapter 32 for Eviscerating the Fourth Wall is indeed in the works. There's only five more chapters left of that to go, and I have not abandoned it despite the long break, nor do I intend to.**


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